2016/12/16 - Take That

[RandomGeekNamedBrent]

[2016/12/16 - Take That ]
Title Text: anime finger swirl

Fox Lindberg: Ace Detective

[Saturn381]

Gotta love the epic point in panel three.

[Gbr23]

Well... You were not wrong Fox... you were just not fast enough.

[Welsh Halfwit]

He’s not the only Detective on the force,
Riding high, following suspects and clues.
They’d worked out much of this, of course,
And he failed to give them their dues.
He forgot they know Sasha as well as him,
Her ways, her means and her deeds.
We may have missed Kevin begging help
After she was seen on other CCTV feeds.
All this time, stupidly barking in the dark,
When he should have trusted his fellows.
His job depends on an irritated Sarge now.
Or Foxs’ sake I hope the fellow mellows…

[Iceheart]

*insert Pheonix Wright joke here*

[K K Slider]

Objection!

[John-056]

Well played, Ricky. No wonder we never saw Sasha's mark. She'd been covering it with make-up, something she never wears.

Well, seems Ralph is Genre Savvy, realizing something was wrong the moment the "Obedience School" came into the picture. He'd said that they came to that decision Five Hours prior to then, which would have been around the time Mungo transmitted the info on what Fox had asked Mr Hartford.

And even if that was too long ago, it would have been around the time that Daisy broke her Mask of Dumbness to reveal how odd Sasha had been acting and how she mentioned her "Training". I mean, Ralph's been a part of Babylon Gardens since Fox was a pup, he'd have met or heard about Daisy at least once, and if she breaks her vow of dumbness to speak coherently, then it's an alarm bell for everyone.

Still, rather mean to yank the rug out from under Fox's paws. Is he ever gonna have a happy ending like King did? I mean, it seems like whenever Fox has something good coming for him, it's snatched away from him at the last second. He nearly gets a Girlfriend? He asks the lass too late, having found one in Kevin, AND the git whom Fox formally calls friend gets a New Girlfriend anyway, rendering all he'd done, moot. He finds two new potential Girlfriends? They're from Heaven~, and he can't remember them~. And now we have this, he works hard to prove a friend's innocence? His commander tells him that they (the rest of the higher ups) have figured it out five hours prior, meaning he'd wasted Five Hours getting it into Mungo's harder-than-concrete head that Sasha is innocent.

*Sigh* Something tells me that either Fox will get his happy ending eventually, or he'll suffer an aneurysm long before that happens. And a Veteran Mungo maybe, but I think all that time in the SWAT unit had made him a Charge-First, Ask NEVER kind of Dog... Which is likely why Ralph assigned Fox with Mungo in the first place. He likely knew that Mungo is too much of an action before thought kind of Dog, and that Fox would be able to reel him in a little.

[Welsh Halfwit]

His commander tells him that they (the rest of the higher ups) have figured it out five hours prior, meaning he'd wasted Five Hours getting it into Mungo's harder-than-concrete head that Sasha is innocent.

*Sigh* Something tells me that either Fox will get his happy ending eventually, or he'll suffer an aneurysm long before that happens. And a Veteran Mungo maybe, but I think all that time in the SWAT unit had made him a Charge-First, Ask NEVER kind of Dog... Which is likely why Ralph assigned Fox with Mungo in the first place. He likely knew that Mungo is too much of an action before thought kind of Dog, and that Fox would be able to reel him in a little.

Right.

Because Mungo's so thick.

He's thick because he didn't believe his partner, who he just met today, was right abouut a girl he barely knows beyond being Kevin's girlfriend., being innocent of a crime when she's actively shouting "I DID IT, OFFICERS!"

He's thick because he should automatically have assumed mind control or hypnosis and gone to Tarot coz, y'know, magic real and stuff?

He's thick because he continually broke the rules, compromised the investigation and went on the run wi... No, wait, all that was Fox. Fox who acted from the heart. Only right at the end did he actually use his brain.

But it's Mungo that's thick, right? Sheesh.

[HundKatzeMaus]

His commander tells him that they (the rest of the higher ups) have figured it out five hours prior, meaning he'd wasted Five Hours getting it into Mungo's harder-than-concrete head that Sasha is innocent.

*Sigh* Something tells me that either Fox will get his happy ending eventually, or he'll suffer an aneurysm long before that happens. And a Veteran Mungo maybe, but I think all that time in the SWAT unit had made him a Charge-First, Ask NEVER kind of Dog... Which is likely why Ralph assigned Fox with Mungo in the first place. He likely knew that Mungo is too much of an action before thought kind of Dog, and that Fox would be able to reel him in a little.

Right.

Because Mungo's so thick.

He's thick because he didn't believe his partner, who he just met today, was right abouut a girl he barely knows beyond being Kevin's girlfriend., being innocent of a crime when she's actively shouting "I DID IT, OFFICERS!"

He's thick because he should automatically have assumed mind control or hypnosis and gone to Tarot coz, y'know, magic real and stuff?

He's thick because he continually broke the rules, compromised the investigation and went on the run wi... No, wait, all that was Fox. Fox who acted from the heart. Only right at the end did he actually use his brain.

But it's Mungo that's thick, right? Sheesh.

I agree with Welsh in every point.
Also I want to add that Fox admitted he does stuff like this, because he never learned to deal with his negative emotions.

To the thing about the happy ending:
King took active steps torwards his happy ending and had to earn it and he needed a long time for that.
Fox still has a long way to go for that.

[leinglo]

They came up with that idea 5 hours ago from now, but how long has it been between now and when they left the house? It was the middle of the night then, but there's light coming out of those window blinds behind Ralph. Is this the next day? Has Ralph already talked to Sasha and Mungo? It's nice to see that the police are on the ball here, but how did they get tipped off to the Obedience School ahead of time? Fox and Mungo were (supposedly) the ones out gathering that information in the first place.

[Not A Furry]

Third panel without the text if anyone wants it

[gamepopper]

I guess police minds think alike, some take longer than others. I think this investigation is more of a test of Fox trusting others, more than him solving a case.

[Obbl]

Still, rather mean to yank the rug out from under Fox's paws. Is he ever gonna have a happy ending like King did?

Sorry to jump in on this, but isn't joining the K-9 squad part of Fox's happy ending? He's finally achieved his dream.

I think this investigation is more of a test of Fox trusting others, more than him solving a case.

^This. This is my feeling too.

[John-056]

His commander tells him that they (the rest of the higher ups) have figured it out five hours prior, meaning he'd wasted Five Hours getting it into Mungo's harder-than-concrete head that Sasha is innocent.

*Sigh* Something tells me that either Fox will get his happy ending eventually, or he'll suffer an aneurysm long before that happens. And a Veteran Mungo maybe, but I think all that time in the SWAT unit had made him a Charge-First, Ask NEVER kind of Dog... Which is likely why Ralph assigned Fox with Mungo in the first place. He likely knew that Mungo is too much of an action before thought kind of Dog, and that Fox would be able to reel him in a little.

Right.

Because Mungo's so thick.

He's thick because he didn't believe his partner, who he just met today, was right abouut a girl he barely knows beyond being Kevin's girlfriend., being innocent of a crime when she's actively shouting "I DID IT, OFFICERS!"

He's thick because he should automatically have assumed mind control or hypnosis and gone to Tarot coz, y'know, magic real and stuff?

He's thick because he continually broke the rules, compromised the investigation and went on the run wi... No, wait, all that was Fox. Fox who acted from the heart. Only right at the end did he actually use his brain.

But it's Mungo that's thick, right? Sheesh.

That's where you're Wrong, Welsh. Mungo has lived in Babylon Gardens and thus should know Sasha. Why? Well, he attended King's wedding, which involved the LOCAL Police Dogs. Anyone from The Babylon Gardens Police force would attend, and back then, while Mungo wasn't given a Name back then, he's Clearly in the Pews among the Police Dogs. That means he's a Local Police Dog before he left to Join the SWAT Team. He was wearing a Blue Collar Back then and is pretty obvious.

Don't beileve me? Here's the comic.



He's the big black dog with the Blue Collar looking at Sabrina. And no, I'm not saying he's thick, I'm saying he's sticking to the rules too much and hadn't seen what some had seen.

And even then, Fox mentions that Mungo was Transferred BACK in the second comic of this arc. That means he's a local cop and therefore, would know Sasha well enough due to how Friendly Sasha is. (Although I can't take Mr Wannabe Casanova seriously since Sasha considers him a bad date and wouldn't approach him afterwards... Not to mention that knowing Bino, he wouldn't let her into the club now that he's the Lord and master of that place and she'd rejected the twit before Fido's confession on Live Telly. Bino's enough of a Spiteful Blighter to do that... Then again, Sasha did say that intentional harm is fine on Ex-BFs, which means that she can be as spiteful... Which also means Casanova Wannabe is pretty much tellin' Pork Pies droolin' with grease.)

Mungo's a Local, and if he doesn't know Sasha all that well, then something is wrong here. I mean, Sasha's rather like Pinkie Pie Blended with Caboose with a dash of a Sense of Personal Space and given the form of a female dog, she wants to be your friend and would go out of her way to let them know her... Without Violating the other person's personal space.

Fox may have also been at fault for not seeing as well, but had Mungo just dragged Sasha back, Five hours early, many of the K9 would have jumped to conclusions, which in turn would have led to more unnecessary drama. I mean, remember that Sasha seemed to awaken from a Dream once Tarot whacked her, having no memory of saying such things and was genuinely horrified that Fox would suggest she'd harm anyone without reason. What happens if no-one knew how to disable the Brainwashing? She would have been blaring out "Crimes" she'd never done in the station, and even if Kevin is smarter than he appears, his main flaw is like that of many a dog (And yes, I'm including Fox) which is to act before thinking, likely causing him to never Trust Sasha again, even with the Brainwashing removed. Not to mention that all someone has to do, is nick a recording of Sasha's Alleged Crimes, broadcast it to the news or public and people would instantly start pulling out of the Laws that Keene Milton wants to put in to give the Pets rights.

If you think I'm thinking too deep, well, may I mention the fact that Keene was almost Murdered for trying to Pass Laws that would give Pets the same equal rights as Humans? Or the fact that Sasha was brainwashed to Act as both a Fall-Dog and a Likely Distraction? How do we know that there aren't any Sleepers within the K9U, Corrupt Human Officers who don't want those laws to come in, or if the former two isn't possible, an extremely Talented Hacker who can slip in, paralyse the Police HQ's system and nick what they need? This wasn't a Rushed Job, this was planned, and likely for a while since Sasha had been going for a few Months prior to Keene's attempted Murder. The Crooked Obedience School and the ones who committed the Attempt on Keene's life are almost undeniably connected.

...Which worries me. How many other pets went to that "Obedience School" to be Brainwashed? Is anyone of the Cast among their numbers? Who are these people anyway and what are their full motives? We know they want their pets to stay as Pets rather than people, but what else do they want from them?

Far as I'm concerned, while the Comic stays light-hearted, once you look deeper and start poking, you start seein' the darkness hidden in the wings.

[Legotron123]

Okay, hands up, who here forgot about the obedience school? Because I know I did.

[HellishK9]

So what happens now? They believe that the staff at the obedience school are the masterminds behind this almost-successful murder plot. I think all they could do is head to the school with a warrant and demand to see files and recordings of how the pets were treated. Maybe arrest and charge those who mistreated the pets since I don't believe that the entire work force at the school is all in on this murder plot.

[GameCobra]

Oh, yes. I can't wait to see what Ralph has to say about this :3

John, Although this answer is all hypothetical, It also could be assumed Mungo had the answers to begin with once they first found Sasha at the dock with the VHS to begin with - The problem here is that it's possible that Mungo really wanted to see where Fox was going along with this since Ralph even pointed out that Fox was a good cop and even felt Fox would be a good influence on Mungo. Mungo just got his arm twisted. If Sasha was behaving oddly at the docks and Ralph knew of the reasons why all along, whose to say Fox was in the right for going out of his way to solve the problem?

As far as the dark side of the comic goes with the brainwashing ~ that's hard to say. If brainwashing obedience is a part of the comic now, i wouldn't worry about all the dogs being brainwashed ~ just Bino.

[Argent]

Doesn't explain why per pupils were pink.

[SuperStar]

Doesn't explain why per pupils were pink.

It's probably just a meta thing, for the readers to see a difference.

[Adoring Fan]

John-056, that was the single best proof of point that i have ever seen made on ANY web comic ever. Not only did you prove that Mungo knew better but played the lawful stupid role anyway (and even provided cannon images of it) but you even found him in the comic before his official reveal. I am extremely impressed.

Personally i am happy that we are finally starting to move on from that investigation... I sincerely hope we will see another totally separate line start by Christmas.

[guru4567]

So what happens now? They believe that the staff at the obedience school are the masterminds behind this almost-successful murder plot. I think all they could do is head to the school with a warrant and demand to see files and recordings of how the pets were treated. Maybe arrest and charge those who mistreated the pets since I don't believe that the entire work force at the school is all in on this murder plot.

I can't help to think that the obedience school is going to be a empty building, you guys, and that's Ralph's exposition in the next strip. If the puppet master behind this smart at all, he or she already knows the trail could lead back to the school and is gone.

I'm hoping Fox does what happens in every Phoenix Wright case and turns it on its head.

[HundKatzeMaus]

His commander tells him that they (the rest of the higher ups) have figured it out five hours prior, meaning he'd wasted Five Hours getting it into Mungo's harder-than-concrete head that Sasha is innocent.

*Sigh* Something tells me that either Fox will get his happy ending eventually, or he'll suffer an aneurysm long before that happens. And a Veteran Mungo maybe, but I think all that time in the SWAT unit had made him a Charge-First, Ask NEVER kind of Dog... Which is likely why Ralph assigned Fox with Mungo in the first place. He likely knew that Mungo is too much of an action before thought kind of Dog, and that Fox would be able to reel him in a little.

Right.

Because Mungo's so thick.

He's thick because he didn't believe his partner, who he just met today, was right abouut a girl he barely knows beyond being Kevin's girlfriend., being innocent of a crime when she's actively shouting "I DID IT, OFFICERS!"

He's thick because he should automatically have assumed mind control or hypnosis and gone to Tarot coz, y'know, magic real and stuff?

He's thick because he continually broke the rules, compromised the investigation and went on the run wi... No, wait, all that was Fox. Fox who acted from the heart. Only right at the end did he actually use his brain.

But it's Mungo that's thick, right? Sheesh.

That's where you're Wrong, Welsh. Mungo has lived in Babylon Gardens and thus should know Sasha. Why? Well, he attended King's wedding, which involved the LOCAL Police Dogs. Anyone from The Babylon Gardens Police force would attend, and back then, while Mungo wasn't given a Name back then, he's Clearly in the Pews among the Police Dogs. That means he's a Local Police Dog before he left to Join the SWAT Team. He was wearing a Blue Collar Back then and is pretty obvious.

Don't beileve me? Here's the comic.



He's the big black dog with the Blue Collar looking at Sabrina. And no, I'm not saying he's thick, I'm saying he's sticking to the rules too much and hadn't seen what some had seen.

And even then, Fox mentions that Mungo was Transferred BACK in the second comic of this arc. That means he's a local cop and therefore, would know Sasha well enough due to how Friendly Sasha is. (Although I can't take Mr Wannabe Casanova seriously since Sasha considers him a bad date and wouldn't approach him afterwards... Not to mention that knowing Bino, he wouldn't let her into the club now that he's the Lord and master of that place and she'd rejected the twit before Fido's confession on Live Telly. Bino's enough of a Spiteful Blighter to do that... Then again, Sasha did say that intentional harm is fine on Ex-BFs, which means that she can be as spiteful... Which also means Casanova Wannabe is pretty much tellin' Pork Pies droolin' with grease.)

Mungo's a Local, and if he doesn't know Sasha all that well, then something is wrong here. I mean, Sasha's rather like Pinkie Pie Blended with Caboose with a dash of a Sense of Personal Space and given the form of a female dog, she wants to be your friend and would go out of her way to let them know her... Without Violating the other person's personal space.

Fox may have also been at fault for not seeing as well, but had Mungo just dragged Sasha back, Five hours early, many of the K9 would have jumped to conclusions, which in turn would have led to more unnecessary drama. I mean, remember that Sasha seemed to awaken from a Dream once Tarot whacked her, having no memory of saying such things and was genuinely horrified that Fox would suggest she'd harm anyone without reason. What happens if no-one knew how to disable the Brainwashing? She would have been blaring out "Crimes" she'd never done in the station, and even if Kevin is smarter than he appears, his main flaw is like that of many a dog (And yes, I'm including Fox) which is to act before thinking, likely causing him to never Trust Sasha again, even with the Brainwashing removed. Not to mention that all someone has to do, is nick a recording of Sasha's Alleged Crimes, broadcast it to the news or public and people would instantly start pulling out of the Laws that Keene Milton wants to put in to give the Pets rights.

If you think I'm thinking too deep, well, may I mention the fact that Keene was almost Murdered for trying to Pass Laws that would give Pets the same equal rights as Humans? Or the fact that Sasha was brainwashed to Act as both a Fall-Dog and a Likely Distraction? How do we know that there aren't any Sleepers within the K9U, Corrupt Human Officers who don't want those laws to come in, or if the former two isn't possible, an extremely Talented Hacker who can slip in, paralyse the Police HQ's system and nick what they need? This wasn't a Rushed Job, this was planned, and likely for a while since Sasha had been going for a few Months prior to Keene's attempted Murder. The Crooked Obedience School and the ones who committed the Attempt on Keene's life are almost undeniably connected.

...Which worries me. How many other pets went to that "Obedience School" to be Brainwashed? Is anyone of the Cast among their numbers? Who are these people anyway and what are their full motives? We know they want their pets to stay as Pets rather than people, but what else do they want from them?

Far as I'm concerned, while the Comic stays light-hearted, once you look deeper and start poking, you start seein' the darkness hidden in the wings.

You're not the only one, who noticed Mungo's early cameo in the comic. Just because Mungo is a local cop, doesn't mean he knows everyone in Babylon Gardens. Maybe he just saw Sasha hanging out with Kevin. We know Sasha visits him sometimes in the gym and I bet Mungo is also a regular at the gym. There isn't really a hint that shows us, that Mungo knows Sasha well if he knows her at all.

Also I wouldn't really call him a "by the book cop", since he did stretched the rules at least twice for Fox. Yes, Fox did used his puppy eyes, but it doesn't change the fact, that Mungo gave him two chances. The second chance, after Fox took the suspect and tried to ran away. We also know they had been away for so long, the police send a car to search for them. No "by the book cop" would go such lengths.

Even if Mungo had dragged her back too early, I doubt anyone would had jumped into conclussions that easily. Aside from Foy we have:
-Ralph, who seems to approach everything in a calm manner and would had most likely noticed anything wrong.
-Kevin, Sasha's boyfriend, who would had also said that Sasha acts odd.
-Fido, who knows Sasha very well, is still respected in the K9 Unit and would also said for sure how odd Sasha is acting.
Also you shouldn't forget, the police seems to be very competent here. This comic strip proofs it and the K9 also do some really good stuff in the arc "case of the Aztec gold", which again shows what everyone is capable off.
They would need to loose a lot of IQ to get suddenly that dumb or incompetent.
Same with the "never trust Sasha again" thing, King also kept for a long time his secret about him being Joel for a long time and Fox still forgave him AND JOEL KIDNAPPED HIM ONCE. So I doubt it would be that easy for everyone to distrust each other.

I agree with you about how the whole organisation for the plot to kill off Keene, I had the same thought.
Althought I must say the thing with the corrupt police officers sounds kinda good.

[Cesco]

I agree with your hypotheses, Fox. That's curious, so someone used make-up to hide her heart shape mark on the right hip... An obedience school? Like the one used for dogs training? Yeah, that's a valid idea. Eh, Ralph anticipated you, Fox. Let's see how will go.
Cool third panel, with that weird fingertip detail.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Just like I thought, Fox literally wasted everyone's time trying to be the hero. 60% Of the things that happened in this arc were pointless. It was simply a way to emphasize Fox's paranoia of the POSSIBILITY of his friend getting in trouble despite the fact that if she was brought in for questioning, they would have figured out everything Fox figured out on his own in a matter of a few minutes and she would have been in little to no harms way. Fox was not the hero of the arc, Fox was trying to be the hero, and only made matters needlessly complicated or dramatic. Mungo was not being overly cop-y, he was being the only sane one there. Fox was trying to make this big deal out of everything, and Mungo was just doing his job and wondering why the heck Fox was doing all this.
I'm really not getting why so many people were defending Fox throughout this arc, yeah he was trying to be nice but in the end of the day he was being his own antagonist for this case

Also, while indeed pretty obvious that it was gonna be the Obedience center from the second it was mentioned (I mean we were all saying it but then Fox went on his bonkers spree and we completely ignored it) but it really DOES make a lot of sense that they would want to kill Kenee. One is for total freedom of pets, one is for the exact opposite of freedom of pets. It's an OBEDIENCE school. It teaches pets to OBEY their owners (or as they'd probably say, "masters"), of course they don't agree with what Kenee is pushing. Plus, it would put them out of business! No pets means no one needs to be obedient, they'd just need to be good citizens. Why the heck didn't we think about this sooner?!-- oh right, Fox.

And Rick, you're making these Phoenix Wright jokes too easy for me and I greatly appriciate it

[FelixKayne]

Man, it looks like Fox can never win...

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Winning a game you made yourself isn't really all that great honestly.

[GameCobra]

Sure it is! then everyone can join in on the fun! :3

[Blackspots]

Objection!

Aww darn... you beat me to it.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Sure it is! then everyone can join in on the fun! :3

I mean they could've, if everyone else hadn't figured out how to beat it 5 hours ago

[D-Rock]

Perfect tune for this situation.

[Brighttail]

I'm a little confused on the makeup. What 'mark' did she cover up with the makeup and why did it matter in the end, everyone knows who Sasha is, right?

[D-Rock]

Her heart-shaped birthmark. She's never covered it up before.

And don't bring up her earlier designs, people.

[Brighttail]

Well.. I did miss that missing birthmark.

Still considering we are talking about animals and Fox was just talking about scents...it is weird that she would use make up. That sounds like a HUMAN thing to do in order to disguise her.

Strange, but I hope it is explained in the end.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Yeah that's true, he did just kinda throw that out there without explaining what he was talking about. I mean WE get what he's talking about but is it implied that he already told Ralph about the mark? In the panel it's shown he has makeup on his hand, but that just brings up the question of how he got the makeup on his hand as we never SEE it in real time. Was it after they were smooching? But where was the makeup then? Was it just face makeup or was it where her mark was (how naughty of you Fox~). But if it was on her face then why was her mark gone? Was she COMPLETELY covered in Makeup? If so why isn't he completely covered in makeup? Why would she be given the order to wear make up if it didn't make sense to wear make up to disguise herself? Are the obedience owners that dumb? Why would makeup the same color of the dog help disguise her?
Fox there's a LOT of plotholes in your conclusion there.

[HundKatzeMaus]

Yeah that's true, he did just kinda throw that out there without explaining what he was talking about. I mean WE get what he's talking about but is it implied that he already told Ralph about the mark? In the panel it's shown he has makeup on his hand, but that just brings up the question of how he got the makeup on his hand as we never SEE it in real time. Was it after they were smooching? But where was the makeup then? Was it just face makeup or was it where her mark was (how naughty of you Fox~). But if it was on her face then why was her mark gone? Was she COMPLETELY covered in Makeup? If so why isn't he completely covered in makeup? Why would she be given the order to wear make up if it didn't make sense to wear make up to disguise herself? Are the obedience owners that dumb? Why would makeup the same color of the dog help disguise her?
Fox there's a LOT of plotholes in your conclusion there.

Well I can't come up with an explanation for everything, but I guess he got the make up on his hands AFTER they visited Tarot and he got it on his hand, because he carried her earlier. I think it wasn't showed on his hand earlier, because he never noticed it so we were never supposed to notice it.

As about the whole disguising thing...well...I know this might be a really silly explanation, but I GUESS the people, who brainwashed Sasha, just told her to disguise herself somehow and since Sasha is...well...Sasha, all she did was putting make up on her birthmark. I guess they wanted the dog (in this case Sasha) disguised, since every owner would say "No, my dog would never do that," althought we don't know that about Sasha's owner for sure, but you never know.

By the way:
I love the image of Fox as lawyer

[Obbl]

The make-up is on Fox's hand likely from when Mungo was leading them back on leashes based on the image. Fox probably noticed the missing birth mark and may have smelled the make-up. And it's directly stated that her putting on make-up is strange. She's following "prior instructions whether or not they [make] sense."

[Douglas Collier]

To be fair, Fox did get Sasha cured quicker than if they had put Sasha in psychotherapy.